Published: Tuesday, January 7, 2014 at 9:54 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, January 9, 2014 at 12:47 p.m.

Even though they share the same goal of preparing children for the challenges of life ahead, educators and legislators from both sides of the aisle have different ideas of how to best make that happen.

The goal of the forum was to ask the most pressing questions in educators’ minds to legislators before they head to Montgomery for the beginning of the session on Tuesday.

Before the questions, Alabama Superintendent of Education Tommy Bice spoke through a live feed from Montgomery about what he saw as the future of education throughout Alabama. He said that his goal is to move education in Alabama in a different direction than in the past, one that better prepares students for the challenges they face as they move beyond school and into the real world.

With new plans in place that have allowed Alabama to get out from under No Child Left Behind, teachers are able to work more freely towards this goal. However, in order to accomplish this, Bice said students need to think differently.

“We have been preparing them to take a test, not to think,” Bice said. “We need to start teaching them how to think, not what to think.”

In order to do this, Bice said the state is encouraging teachers to come up with unique ways to reach their students and get them engaged in the classroom. He pointed to dual-enrollment programs, interdiscipline classes and giving students real-world problems to work through from local industry so they can see where their education is leading them.

After Bice spoke, the questions began, and first, the legislators were asked how they would improve morale among the teachers. Nordgren said ideally, they would get large raises, but as the fiscal situation doesn’t necessarily allow for that, she said supporting innovation in the classroom as opposed to compliance would help, much like Bice said.

Ford said the first thing he would do is raise their pay and he would also seek their input on what they, as legislators, do because educators know education best. Butler said he supports a responsible pay raise and suggested that by building the economy, it would build the funds necessary to give reachers those raises. Williams emphasized the importance of education to lawmakers, while pointing out the difficult financial times.

“I have yet to ever sit in a meeting in Montgomery and hear ‘Let’s balance the budget on the backs of teachers,’” Williams said. “(We will) try to find those places that not only can we deal with the big picture, like the budget, but also those small things we can do along the way to help.”

One of the issues that is causing some of the budget constraints is the repayment of the rainy-day fund. The lawmakers were asked if they felt it was more important to pay back the fund or directly fund education needs now. Williams, Nordgren and Butler said both are important, but it is constitutionally mandated to repay any money borrowed and that paying it back now would free up more money in the future. Ford disagreed and said he would rather try to get a two-year extension on the repayment in order to free up more money now.

“The rainy-day account is for days when it’s raining in education and it’s been raining,” Ford said. “And it’s still raining.”

The most divisive issue amongst the panel was discussion of the Alabama Accountability Act. The panel was asked if they would support changes in the act that would restore money that was taken from the educational trust fund.

Ford’s answer was simple. He said the act needed to be repealed, calling it bad legislation. Butler said he would support changes as they were needed but now is too early to tell whether it is working. Williams pointed to Florida’s voucher program and said its success showed the potential of the similar accountability act.

Nordgren said she believes some of the funding could be restored as only 52 students were moved from failing schools to private schools throughout the state. She said she wished the state had just stuck with the Flexibility Act, which the Accountability Act eventually replaced.

Etowah and Gadsden City Superintendents Alan Cosby and Ed Miller said they were happy with the discussion, as all four addressed key issues that were important to educators openly and meaningfully. With the legislative session beginning Tuesday, Miller said he hopes that kind of discussion will continue when local lawmakers head to Montgomery.

<p>Even though they share the same goal of preparing children for the challenges of life ahead, educators and legislators from both sides of the aisle have different ideas of how to best make that happen.</p><p>A panel of local legislators were asked questions about how to improve education by Delta Kappa Gamma, a society of women educators, at <a href="http://www.gadsdentimes.com/section/TOPIC0201/"><b>Gadsden State</b></a> Community College on Tuesday afternoon. </p><p>Topics included how to improve teacher morale, repaying the rainy-day fund and changing the Alabama Accountability Act.</p><p>The panel consisted of Sen. Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City; Rep. Craig Ford, D-Gadsden; Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City; and Rep. Becky Nordgren, R-Gadsden. </p><p>The goal of the forum was to ask the most pressing questions in educators' minds to legislators before they head to Montgomery for the beginning of the session on Tuesday.</p><p>Before the questions, Alabama Superintendent of Education Tommy Bice spoke through a live feed from Montgomery about what he saw as the future of education throughout Alabama. He said that his goal is to move education in Alabama in a different direction than in the past, one that better prepares students for the challenges they face as they move beyond school and into the real world. </p><p>With new plans in place that have allowed Alabama to get out from under No Child Left Behind, teachers are able to work more freely towards this goal. However, in order to accomplish this, Bice said students need to think differently.</p><p>“We have been preparing them to take a test, not to think,” Bice said. “We need to start teaching them how to think, not what to think.”</p><p>In order to do this, Bice said the state is encouraging teachers to come up with unique ways to reach their students and get them engaged in the classroom. He pointed to dual-enrollment programs, interdiscipline classes and giving students real-world problems to work through from local industry so they can see where their education is leading them.</p><p>After Bice spoke, the questions began, and first, the legislators were asked how they would improve morale among the teachers. Nordgren said ideally, they would get large raises, but as the fiscal situation doesn't necessarily allow for that, she said supporting innovation in the classroom as opposed to compliance would help, much like Bice said.</p><p>Ford said the first thing he would do is raise their pay and he would also seek their input on what they, as legislators, do because educators know education best. Butler said he supports a responsible pay raise and suggested that by building the economy, it would build the funds necessary to give reachers those raises. Williams emphasized the importance of education to lawmakers, while pointing out the difficult financial times.</p><p>“I have yet to ever sit in a meeting in Montgomery and hear 'Let's balance the budget on the backs of teachers,'” Williams said. “(We will) try to find those places that not only can we deal with the big picture, like the budget, but also those small things we can do along the way to help.”</p><p>One of the issues that is causing some of the budget constraints is the repayment of the rainy-day fund. The lawmakers were asked if they felt it was more important to pay back the fund or directly fund education needs now. Williams, Nordgren and Butler said both are important, but it is constitutionally mandated to repay any money borrowed and that paying it back now would free up more money in the future. Ford disagreed and said he would rather try to get a two-year extension on the repayment in order to free up more money now.</p><p>“The rainy-day account is for days when it's raining in education and it's been raining,” Ford said. “And it's still raining.”</p><p>The most divisive issue amongst the panel was discussion of the Alabama Accountability Act. The panel was asked if they would support changes in the act that would restore money that was taken from the educational trust fund.</p><p>Ford's answer was simple. He said the act needed to be repealed, calling it bad legislation. Butler said he would support changes as they were needed but now is too early to tell whether it is working. Williams pointed to Florida's voucher program and said its success showed the potential of the similar accountability act.</p><p>Nordgren said she believes some of the funding could be restored as only 52 students were moved from failing schools to private schools throughout the state. She said she wished the state had just stuck with the Flexibility Act, which the Accountability Act eventually replaced.</p><p>Etowah and Gadsden City Superintendents Alan Cosby and Ed Miller said they were happy with the discussion, as all four addressed key issues that were important to educators openly and meaningfully. With the legislative session beginning Tuesday, Miller said he hopes that kind of discussion will continue when local lawmakers head to Montgomery.</p>